One Time Thing [Wattys 2021 Shortlist] ✔️

Chapter 28: The perks of being alone

XANDER

"Is that all?" The cute brunette smiled at Xander so widely her dimples showed.

"Yes, that is all." Zora answered loudly, eying them smugly. The waitress smiled nervously and skipped away with their order. Xander almost laughed out loud.

"Man, you broke up with Annie like a week ago." Tony smiled shaking his head.

"It's not fair," George shook his head for different reasons, "when I break up with girlfriends, nobody pays attention to me so soon."

"Girlfriends! It's important to have dreams, George." Zora laughed out loud, making everyone chuckle. George shot her a mean look.

The four of them sat at the wooden, cosy bar. Xander has done so much work in the past week, he was pretty satisfied with himself. His mind had a sole purpose and that was convincing his boss that he could work from home, therefore freeing his hours to do whatever he pleased.

"So, wait, you haven't been to work in how long?" Tony asked, his Italian accent somehow bouncing off the walls. Tony was usually loud even louder in confined spaces.

"Three weeks. Well, I stopped by the firm every now and then, but I mostly worked from the comfort of my bedroom." Xander said proudly. He was proud, the amount of time he managed to save was incredible. And he actually liked the job more.

"What does Rob say to that?" George asked. Rob was Xander's boss, an older gentleman that had a sharp mind when it came to business, but not when it came to technology.

"I think Rob's in shock." Xander admitted. "I made sure I worked harder than ever. It's amazing how much time we spend on work not working. I wrap up the work in four to five hours tops. The rest of the day I'm mostly free to do whatever I want."

"Xander is gonna try to convince his boss to let him go to Europe for three months." Zora interrupted, excited by the news. Zora was easily impressed by wild ideas.

"Everyone should start doing that." George nodded. "The work place takes up a lot of time, from getting ready in the morning, driving to the building, getting home. Not to mention the utter dissatisfaction that emerges on the ride through the crowded city. Some might experience suicidal thoughts. Or at least, homicidal." He fixed his glasses and cleared his throat.

"True." Tony nodded.

"The only problem is that Rob is the old-fashioned type boss, but he's pretty gullible. And if he sees the results, he's ready to change his opinion." Xander shrugged his shoulder.

"Which means you would be travelling to Europe, earning money there and earning money from your regular job. Without using your days off. Good idea." Tony nodded again.

"What's the plan if it doesn't work?" George asked.

"Let them fire me. I've enough money saved to start something on my own, especially with the job in Europe. Plus, Mr O'Hara seems to really want to work with me." Xander was pretty confident that his boss was going to be up for the deal, though. And if he pulled that off, he would actually have the time and money to start something anyway.

"Look at you, guys!" Zora grinned. "Your lives are actually settled. Xander is scamming his boss into paying him for working less, George is paid to make love to a computer and Tony married into wealth!" She laughed so hard at her own joke that she hit the table with her hand.

"Yes, my wife is a beautiful life-saving creature, but I didn't marry into wealth." Tony said.

"She's a gynaecologist." Zora squinted.